By JERREY FEBUS

Special to Daily Star

HOLLAND — The 177th edition of the Calvin-Hope men’s basketball rivalry will go down in the history books as a 95-81 Calvin victory.

Calvin claimed its first win at Hope since 2009 with an impressive offensive performance Wednesday night as the Maroon and Gold connected on 53 percent of its field goal attempts including 68 percent (11 of 16) of its three-point attempts.

Senior Danny Rodts (Niles) led the way with a career-high 30 points while senior teammate Brent Schuster (Denver, CO/Denver Christian HS) had a double-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots while senior Brad Schnyders (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) had 11 points off the bench. Rodts had the distinction of connecting on five three-point baskets, five two-point baskets and five free throw attempts.

The contest also marked the MIAA opener for both teams. Calvin is now 15-0 in MIAA openers under current head coach Kevin Vande Streek.

The victory also marked the first time Calvin has scored 90 points or more against Hope since 2001. In addition, it marked Calvin’s first double-digit win at Hope since 1994.

In the first half, Calvin (6-6 overall, 1-0 MIAA) threatened to pull away, building a 37-26 lead but Hope (7-5 overall, 0-1 MIAA) rallied with a 16-7 run to end the half to trail just 44-42 at intermission.

Hope then tied the game at 47 in the opening moments of the second half but Schuster scored seven straight points to put the Knights up 54-47. Calvin never trailed again and pulled away with an 11-4 run over the final 1:44 of regulation to seal the win.

Calvin finished the game with a commanding 46-21 rebounding edge including a 16-6 edge on the offensive glass.

“I thought we did a great job on the boards and that was a key,” said Calvin men’s basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek. “We play our guys in shorter shifts and when they’re in, we expect them to play hard and they did that tonight.”

According to Vande Streek, Calvin has a team with several players capable of providing scoring punch. “We have a very versatile team on offense this year with a lot of different guys who can score,” said Vande Streek. “We don’t have the big back-to-the-basket kind of player like we’ve had in the past but we do have several players that can get to the basket better than we have had in quite a few years.”

In addition to the double-digit scoring efforts of Rodts, Schuster and Schnyders, the Knights also received important contributions from a variety of players. Freshman Jordan Brink (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) had eight points and seven assists while junior Brian Haverdink (Holland/Holland Christian HS) tossed in eight points off the bench. Freshman Tyler Kruis (Grand Rapids/Calvin Christian HS) had seven points, six rebounds and two blocked shots off the bench while sophomore Tom Snikkers (Jenison/Unity Christian HS) had six points, five rebounds and four assists.

Hope was led in scoring by Tan Tanis who had 24 points while Will Bowser had 16. Hope shot 50 percent overall but the Knights outscored the Flying Dutchmen by 10 points at the free throw line.

Hope still leads the all-time series with Calvin 90-87. The two teams will play again on Jan. 29 at Calvin’s Van Noord Arena at 3 p.m.